ILOILO City – Mayor Jerry Treñas expressed frustration at the “so many” paper requirements that the Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) asked from the city government for the use of Iloilo Central Elementary School as isolation facility for suspected cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The city government thus decided to remove seven patients under investigation (PUIs) and a person under monitoring (PUM) for possible COVID-19 infection from Iloilo Central Elementary School where they have been confined in isolation for several days now.
They would be transferred to a private school which offered a building as temporary isolation facility for suspected COVID-19 cases, according to Treñas.
Pending the release of their COVID-19 test results, isolating PUIs and PUMs is a must as a precautionary measure.
PUIs are persons showing COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, cough and difficulty breathing. PUMs are those not showing the symptoms but have a history of travel to areas with confirmed COVID-19 cases.
It was good that the University Iloilo (UI)-Phinma and Sta. Maria Catholic School offered their school facilities, said Treñas.
DepEd and DILG sought a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the city government.
“Mas maayo pa ang mga private schools kay nag-offer sila facilities ipausar lang anay to us. The MOA with them will come later kon magtawhay na,” said Treñas.
The mayor lamented that despite the current emergency public health situation, DepEd and DILG could not temporarily slacken on the paper requirements “that make it difficult for us to use the school.”
“Situations like this make me very sad,” said Treñas.
On the other hand, he thanked UI and Sta. Maria Catholic School for their generosity and understanding.
“So bay-an ta na lang ang DepEd. Magwa na lang ta da sa central school kay ginapabudlayan kita,” he said./PN
